DC, thanks for watching and clipping those photos, that "Kula the Picture God" Tiki was completely unknown to me! What a funny find, that one must have gone for big bucks. Plus now I know where THIS photo I used on page 202 of Tiki Modern came from:

I still don't know who the model is, but it seems the two pics are form the same photo session. I wonder where at Tiki Gardens that Witco Mainlander fountain stood.

Here are some of the other photos that got bids from sixty to over a hundred dollars each:

I came across some information on the pier that was located across from Tiki Gardens. Here's the story

A 900-ft. long pier originally known as the South Shore
Fishing Pier, built in 1960, was bought by Frank and Jo
Byars in the mid-’60s and renamed Pier Kahiki. It was
across from their famed attraction Tiki Gardens, and the
Byars wanted it primarily for the parking lot. The pier
attracted serious fishermen until it was closed after being
badly damaged by Hurricane Agnes.

An aerial photo postcard.

And some photos of the pier after Byars turned it into the Pier Kahiki I spied on ebay.

On www.3dstereo.com you can buy a complete pack of Viewmaster slides with pictures of the Tiki Gardens. They also have Adventureland slides from Disneyland too. They're cheaper than the $98 Tiki Gardens.

Plenty of tourist attractions have their own gift shops, but how many gift shops have their own tourist attractions?

In 1962, ‘Trader’ Frank and Jo Byars opened a small gardens on about four acres adjacent to their Signal House gift shop on Gulf Boulevard in Indian Rocks Beach. When the gift shop burned down in 1963 they rebuilt the shop and opened an expanded gardens in 1964. Eventually, following a 1969 expansion, the complex would encompass several gift shops, the south seas themed gardens complete with exotic birds and monkeys, and Trader Frank's Restaurant, on more than twelve acres.

In 1986, the Byars sold Tiki Gardens to a pair of foreign investors who ultimately seemed unsure what to do with the attraction. They sold it to Pinellas County in 1990. The buildings were demolished and tikis sold, with much of the property being turned into a not so exotic beach access parking lot.

I have this View-Master set and can heartily recommend it. I'm a VM collector, so I've got ongoing searches running for many different sets, and this one is a difficult one to come by. Took me about a year or two to finally win one on eBay, at $30 plus shipping. I was willing to go up to $50, so quite pleased with that outcome! Florida was at the height of its popularity as a destination at the same time that View-Master was at the height of its popularity as a medium for showcasing destinations, so what we have preserved on these old reels today is a sort of portal into that time and location...possibly the closest thing to a time machine other than the movies. I like to play the Tiki Gardens album while viewing this set, for added ambience.

I know of no other VM set that is quite as focused on tiki specifically as this one is, but other "old Florida" sets worth mentioning include Weeki Wachee Springs, Rainbow Springs, Sunken Gardens (St. Pete), Floridaland (Sarasota/Venice), Parrot Jungle, Monkey Jungle, Lion Country Safari, Jungle Gardens (Sarasota), Cypress Gardens (Winter Haven), Busch Gardens (Tampa), Cape Coral Gardens, Bok Tower (Lake Wales), Silver Springs, Marine Studios/Marineland (St. Augustine), Sea World (Orlando), Seaquarium (Miami), Historic St. Augustine, Greater Miami, and of course, the various Disney World sets. There are certainly plenty of other Florida-based sets and individual reels, but these sets offer a pretty good road trip. I wish they had made a set featuring the Mai Kai, but I was down there for Hukilau this year with my 3D camera, so you just may see some of my stereo photos of it here once I get some time to go through them.

Perhaps a little closer to the topic of tiki (and not to be missed) are the various sets focused on Hawaii. The Polynesian Cultural Center is perhaps the best Hawaiian example, but to a tikiphile, the title is more promising than the actual content. Many of the Hawaiian sets focus on the natural beauty of the islands, which is perhaps as it should be, and they're definitely worth owning.
_________________~cs